Philip Zimbardo Goes to Hollywood

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That’s right, folks — Zimbardo is headed for Hollywood. Well, not exactly — the famed “prison study” that Stanford’s own Professor Philip Zimbardo performed in 1971 will be the basis for an upcoming Hollywood film produced by Sony Pictures. The film will star a couple of big time names: Oscar winners Adrien Brody (The Pianist) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland). The project is set to be released sometime in 2010. The Hollywood Reporter reports:

Sony is feeling experimental. The studio has boarded “The Experiment,” the feature debut of “Prison Break” creator Paul Scheuring, and will distribute the movie in the U.S. In addition, Travis Fimmel has joined the cast, taking on the role that had been reported as going to Elijah Wood.

The pic revolves around several dozen men who, as part of a scientific experiment, are chosen to simulate the roles of prisoners and guards, prompting a host of dark consequences. The story is based on an incident at Stanford University in 1971 in which an experiment that sought to find out how ordinary people would react in a prison situation went horribly awry.

The film will actually be the second to take on the subject matter. A German film produced entitled *Das Experiment *also examined the story of Zimbardo’s experiment. The trailer for the film is worth watching. Here’s a still from the film: